In Memoriam Of ‘Orange Is The New Black’s Most Inspiring Inmate

Spoilers ahead. If you haven’t finished Season Four of Orange is the New Black by now, then I have some bleak news for you. It doesn’t end on a happy note. Instead, it ends with the accidental death of one of the most compelling background characters to ever grace television dead on the cafeteria floor. It ends with the ever-dynamic Poussey Washington’s death and Litchfield’s ensuing riot. It’s an action packed last couple of episodes that would feel out of place if the season had concluded with any other inmate’s death.

Poussey has been our grounding force since we were first introduced to her in Season One. While Piper (Taylor Schilling) was still learning the ever-complicated ropes of prison life and we were still deciding whether or not we liked Piper, Poussey and her BFF Taystee (Danielle Brooks) stood on the sidelines, occasionally offering Piper some advice, but mostly dancing and keeping each other entertained. This best friend duo served as a much anticipated source of comedy relief, and their friendships was one of the few things that made Piper’s constant whining and Larry’s (Jason Biggs) onscreen presence tolerable. Do you remember their impressions of white people? To this day, I hope I can bring someone as much joy as those brief 40 seconds brought me.

Taystee and Poussey quickly became fan favorites, so when Season Two’s Taystee-focused storyline was revealed, we expected nothing but good things. Finally, we get to see even more of these two characters and this goal-inspiring friendship. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what we got, but the circumstances, directed by the borderline evil Vee (Lorraine Toussaint), were far less light-hearted and far more sinister. In her quest to regain her Taystee girl, Vee did everything she could to drive a wedge between arguably the bestOITNB best friend pairing, and it worked. Season Two found Poussey alone and in danger, one of the only members of her friends who could see the true evil lurking underneath Vee. Sure, Vee’s rule was overturned through the natural course of prison life and Taystee and Poussey eventually made up, but there was something so cathartically permanent about Vee’s violent end of season death that I appreciate to this day.

However, Taystee and Poussey’s relationship was just beginning to be tested. Up until this point, all of the conflicts the duo had experienced had been filtered through Taystee, but Season Two also took the time to explore Poussey’s demons and desires. This was the season when Poussey, who was once kicked out of West Point for defending her girlfriend, finally revealed that she wanted something more out of their relationship. It didn’t last because Taystee is very much straight. However, this plotline gave these dimensional characters even more depth. We learned that Poussey wasn’t blameless; she was capable of selfishly pressuring her friend into a relationship. We also learned that Taystee loved her bestie enough to at least try to appease her. This plotline revealed that, no, Litchfield isn’t a magical land filled with gay and bi unicorns. There are inmates who steadfastly identify as straight — a return to sexual “expectations” that oddly worked to make the sexual politics of the series feel even more grounded.

Poussey’s increasing romantic loneliness was explored in greater detail during Season Three. During a season that was defined by insane and sexy relationships (Morello’s marriage and Amber Rose’s existence come to mind) it was Poussey’s vulnerable lack of love that defined her this season. The most important thing Poussey revealed in Season Three is that, for the sake of her sanity and liver, she desperately needed a girlfriend. That and Poussey can make some damn good hooch.

All of this led up to arguably Poussey’s greatest moment — Season Four. We should have known she was wasn’t going to last; all the signs were there. Poussey was happily best friends again with Taystee. She finally had a girlfriend, the refreshingly calmed down Soso (Kimiko Glenn). She was even incarcerated with to her idol, Judy King (Blair Brown), OITNB’s Martha Stewart and Paula Deen hybrid. This season brought us a peaceful and happy Poussey before snatching away the character we had been steadily falling in love with for four years. But in that final episode, we were finally able to see that Poussey was just as engaging and full of life outside of prison as she was in Litchfield.